🔉 A gradual decrease 🔉 Getting quieter 🔉 To become softer

decrescendo

7.5

Gradually getting quieter in music or a part played that way

adjective
/ˌdɛk.rɪˈʃɛn.doʊ/

Specialized

: decrecendo

The orchestra played the final bars in a beautiful decrescendo.

Examples

The conductor indicated a decrescendo to signal the musicians to play softly.
The conductor signaled for a decrescendo as the piece came to a close.
As the storm faded, the sound of thunder became a gentle decrescendo.
As the orchestra played the final notes, they ended in a gentle decrescendo.
The singer's voice faded into a decrescendo, creating a haunting effect in the ballad.

Synonyms

diminuendo

vsdecrescendo

Specialized

1 8.2

Becoming quieter over time in music

is the same musical decrease but used as an alternate term

Antonyms

to crescendo

Specialized

2 6.3

To become gradually louder or stronger

How Loud

fortissimo

Specialized

1 8.3

forte

Specialized

1 7.7

decrescendo

Specialized

7.5

piano

Specialized

1 4.4

pianissimo

Specialized

1 7.5

silence

373 2.0

Surface Forms

decrescendo positive

Morphology

decrescendo = crescendo (semi-transparent) = de + crescendo

The form is reasonably interpretable as the opposite of adjectival 'crescendo', but it is still a technical musical label rather than a fully ordinary English pattern.

Etymology

Decrescendo comes from the parts de- ('down') and crescere ('to grow'), the same root you see in increase and crescendo. So when music is decrescendo it gradually becomes quieter.